Food, Cosmopolitanism, and Stratification—A Scoping Review

Document Type

Review

Publication Date

3-1-2026

Abstract

This scoping review maps and assesses the empirical literature (2014–2024) on cosmopolitan food consumption and its role in social distinction. Drawing on a synthesis of 30 peer-reviewed articles using the PRISMA-ScR protocol, the review identifies a central contradiction between the rhetoric of “openness” and inclusivity in globalized food practices and their actual function as strategic adaptations for the maintenance of elite distinction. The findings reveal a qualitative shift in the mechanisms of stratification, where distinction has migrated from the food object itself to a refined “meta-taste”—a discursive strategy of appraisal rooted in analytical reflexivity and performative competence. The review further identifies a theoretical lag within the field, where a heavy reliance on the Bourdieuian tradition risks overinterpreting consumption as a purely static possession. This conceptual focus sustains two substantive deficiencies: first, the neglect of material capital, which sidelines the economic rationalities and structural constraints that define food access; and second, a persistent Western-centricity that projects a universal cosmopolitan trajectory onto decontextualized global foodways. In response, a critical research agenda is proposed to decentre the dominant Bourdieuian paradigm by expanding geographical and intersectional scopes, integrating materialist perspectives to bridge the symbolic-structural divide, and developing methodological tools capable of measuring discursive capital over material acquisition. This review provides a timely re-evaluation of how distinction is performed and maintained within increasingly discursive global foodways, advancing a more inclusive sociology of food that bridges the disconnect between symbolic performance and material reality.

Publication Title

Sociology Compass

DOI

10.1111/soc4.70179

Volume

20

Issue

3

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